Archive for the ‘24 Hours of Daytona’ tag

Editor’s note: Frequent Hemmings Daily contributor Chris Brewer was invited for a ride-along in the #51 1972 BMW 3.0 CSL as part of the Heritage Exhibition ahead of this year’s 24 Hours of Daytona, and here’s his take on the experience. Chris is a contributor to the Florida Times Union newspaper, and serves as senior editor of Automotive Addicts.

The early morning rain loomed over the Daytona International Speedway, prompting the Rolex 24 Heritage Exhibition organizers to walk among the owners, whispering that it would be OK to sit it out, no pressure to run the priceless vintage race cars on the wet track. The forecast was for clearing skies right around the time that we would roll out to the pits, but the gusting wind and bands of showers seemed to have other plans in mind.

This Jaguar XJR-9, then set up as an XJR-12D, captured victory at Daytona in 1990.

It was only a few days earlier that I was sitting in my home office working on an automotive review for an incredibly efficient (read “boring”) family sedan when my phone rang. It was Tim Pendergast, the Director of Operations for The Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. He also works for the team at Historic Sportscar Racing that puts together the Classic 24 at Daytona and is tapped by the Daytona International Speedway to organize the Rolex 24 Heritage Exhibition. Pendergast asked if I would be interested in riding shotgun during the Heritage Exhibition laps at the 53rd Rolex 24 at Daytona in the #51 1972 BMW 3.0 CSL that Toine Hezemans and Dieter Quester drove to an in-class victory and 11th overall finish at the 1973 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The 1973 Le Mans class-winning BMW, now owned and raced by Scott Hughes.

I think I blacked out for minute. I picked up my cell phone and asked Tim to repeat everything one more time.

My personal history with the #51 BMW goes back to my childhood. My father has always been a passionate BMW owner, and my childhood was filled with 5- and 6-series cars. Posters of the racing CSLs hung in my college dorm room, and I have a Sam Posey-signed #25 CSL numbered lithograph proudly displayed in my living room. Last March my father’s 1988 M5 was showcased directly adjacent to the #51 CSL during the Cars & Coffee at the Amelia Concours d’Elegance. In November, I cheered on the same BMW as it ran to a 3rd place-in-class victory at Historic Sportscar Racing’s inaugural Classic 24 Hour at Daytona.

Sure enough, I would be riding in the passenger seat of a car that I spent so much time obsessing over in the Classic 24’s open paddock area that I wondered if the event organizers were going to file a restraining order. Tim had just invited me to experience my favorite vintage race car on one of the greatest tracks in the world during one of the most prestigious racing events in history.

Scott Hughes poses with his 1972 BMW 3.0 CSL. Photo by Malcolm Hogan.

In the days leading up to the soggy morning at the track, I must have rehearsed the experience a 100 times in my head. What would it be like harnessed into the CSL’s race seat wearing a full Nomex suit, helmet and gloves? How would it feel to run the vintage Bimmer up to the top of Daytona’s massive banked turns? Would it be wise to call my life insurance provider?

In the paddock.

The 24-minute Heritage Exhibition laps serve as the central event of what is essentially one of the greatest vintage car shows of the year. Twenty-four pristine sports cars with significant endurance racing pedigrees assemble in the Goodyear Legends of Racing area during the Rolex 24 at Daytona weekend. Fans can get up close to the vehicles, all of which have graced the covers of countless magazines and coffee table books. Three and a half hours before the start of the Rolex 24, the cars take to the track and set the stage for the big event.

The author (L) with car owner Scott Hughes.

The drivers meeting, led by Pendergast, only lasted a few minutes. Tim explained that we have to push the cars to pit road where they could then run under their own power. The first two laps would be run with the Heritage Exhibition-graphics-wrapped 2015 Toyota Camry pace car leading the way. The historic race cars were to run side by side for the first lap, in a parade of sorts. The pace car would continue to set the tempo for the second lap and then pull away at turn three, the International Horseshoe. Once the cars completed the second lap at pace car speed, the drivers were welcome to push the GT-1, GT-2, GT-3, GTP, GTL, SRII and Trans Am cars as hard as they liked. Passing was permitted, but only in designated areas.

Davy Jones.

During the meeting, I caught a glimpse of Davy Jones—1990 Sunbank 24 at Daytona winner—who would be piloting the same 1988 TWR Jaguar XJR-9 that he drove with Jan Lammers and Andy Wallace to overall victory. The Heritage Exhibition appearance had even more significance since this was the first time that the three-time Sunbank 24 GTP car had been on U.S. soil since 1991.

The 1984 Argo-Mazda JM16, driven by Kelly Marsh.

As the meeting ended, I overheard two gentlemen directly behind me discussing the track conditions. What caught my ear was that one of them mentioned he would be giving someone from the media a ride. I turned around and to my right was none other than racing champion Kelly Marsh. Kelly would be driving the same family-owned 1984 Argo-Mazda JM16 that he raced with his father Don Marsh and Ron Pawley to win the GTL class and finish 10th overall at the 1985 Sunbank 24 at Daytona. On the left was Scott Hughes, owner of the 1972 BMW 3.0 CSL.

Meeting Hughes eased my mind; his kind demeanor and inviting personality instantly won me over. The truth is, I don’t meet too many people who can afford concours level vintage race cars, and I wasn’t sure what to expect.

The BMW’s (now) 3.5-liter inline six.

Before joining the other drivers back at the Goodyear Legends of Racing area, we changed into our fire suits. Scott pulled a pair of blue gloves out of his travel bag and handed them to me. Again, his thoughtfulness caught me off guard.

Switchgear inside the BMW.

The historic cars had to be pushed to pit road, which was easier said than done. The gearing in many of these racers made moving them difficult, if not almost impossible. I joined five other adults pushing a 12 Hours of Sebring alumnus 1965 Shelby Mustang G.T. 350. Try as we might, moving the muscle car just inches felt like we had traveled the length of a football field.

1965 Shelby G.T. 350.

Eventually we began to make headway through the sea of spectators who were snapping photos on everything from flip phones to $50,000 video rigs. I found myself caught up in the moment. I could see the smile take over Scott’s face as he once again realized just how much everyone loved and appreciated the car. I instantly understood the reason that Hughes loved historic racing. It wasn’t the thrill of the race or the pride of ownership that really stirred him, it was the joy that seeing the historic BMW in action brought to others.

Photo by Malcolm Hogan.

We rolled onto the pit road and fired up the 3.5-liter inline-six (an increase in displacement from the original 3.0 and 3.2-liter specifications). Scott asked if I wanted earplugs just before I put on my helmet and I declined. I wanted to absorb as much of the experience as possible.

The sound was ferocious. Even with the helmet tight to my ears, the race prepped inline-six and unrestricted exhaust filled my head with an angry symphony of perfectly timed relentless explosions. The clangorous banging from the gearbox as Scott engaged the clutch and used the tiny wooden shifter knob to select first gear startled me; this was in no way the 320i I owned as a kid.

Photo by Katie Hapeman.

We joined the Heritage Exhibition parade behind Pendergast in the pace car; two 1997 Alex Job Racing Porsche 993 RSRs just ahead and the wildly painted 1969 BMW 2002 that ran in the 1976 Daytona 24 Hours immediately behind us. Even at low speeds, you could feel the CSL grab the pavement and hold tight. As we approached the first of the steeply raked banked turns that define the Daytona International Speedway, I began to realize that my childhood dream of riding to the top was about to come true.

Photo by Malcolm Hogan.

Hughes yelled over the roar of the engine that holding the banked turn at slow speeds was more difficult than at wide-open throttle. I could see him working to turn the wheel to the right to keep the line that we were taking. The surreal feeling of seeing the whimsical paint of the 1969 BMW 2002 running just below us enhanced the dream-like quality of the experience.

Our first lap around the track proved that while the rain had subsided, large puddles remained in many sections of the twisty infield sections of the course. Scott would work to keep the priceless BMW out of the deepest water, occasionally employing the lone wiper to keep the windshield clear.

With one of the Alex Job Porsches. Photo by Malcolm Hogan.

Once we reached the beginning of the third lap, the drivers began to stretch the legs of the historic time machines. The BMW pulled hard all the way through some of the longest gears I have ever experienced. Never once did the throaty inline-six gurgle or miss. The cars began to thin out and the drivers started to jostle a little in the straights. At one point, I found myself with both hands in the air vehemently cheering as we passed the #23 Alex Job Racing/Team Seattle 1997 Porsche 993 RSR that won the GT3 class at the 1999 Rolex 24 at Daytona, the last air-cooled Porsche 911-based car to win Daytona’s grueling endurance race.

During the first of the spirited laps, Scott tapped my arm and pointed to the caution flag. The 1993 Spice Oldsmobile AK93 that won the WSC class and finished 9th overall at the 1994 Rolex 24 had spun out in the rain. Driving around the stalled car reminded me that this was real life, with consequences, but it also reinforced the fact that I was living a dream.

The 1995 Spice Oldsmobile.

At speed, what Hughes later informed me was only about 2/3 speed, we once again worked through the sharp corners of the infield. The G-forces were fantastic, pushing my helmet-clad head far enough to bounce off the Lucite passenger side window more than once. I desperately worked to soak it all in, mentally snapping pictures that I knew would become treasured memories.

Photo by Katie Hapeman.

Eventually we found ourselves behind the bright-orange Jagermeister-sponsored 1979 Porsche 935 Kremer K3 and settled into a pace as the 24-minute exhibition ended.

The team from Heritage enlisted some race fans to help roll the BMW back into its initial resting spot in the Goodyear Legends of Racing area. I climbed out and removed my helmet to reveal the biggest, goofiest involuntary smile a 41-year-old man can muster.

Photo by Malcolm Hogan.

Historic Sportscar Racing recently announced the Classic 24 Hour at Daytona’s return to Daytona International Speedway November 12-16, 2015. While I can’t promise everyone a passenger seat in their favorite car, I can guarantee that watching the historic race cars tear around the storied track will be one of the greatest goofy-smile-inducing experiences you can hope for.

As the 1980s came to a close, Porsche, Nissan and Jaguar were locked in a three-way battle for dominance in sportscar endurance racing. In 1988, Jaguar unleashed its latest four-wheel weapon to challenge for the title, and the XJR-9 went on to prove itself a versatile competitor in both IMSA and World Sportscar Championship competition. Next March, in the year that marks the 25th anniversary of its win at the 24 Hours of Daytona, XJR-9 chassis #388 will cross the block at RM’s Amelia Island sale.

As the 1988 season dawned, Tom Walkinshaw Racing prepared three XJR-9s to run in the North American IMSA Camel GTP series. Chassis #188 was built from a 1986 XJR-8, and would be used primarily for testing and as a backup car. Chassis #288 and #388 were built from the ground up as XJR-9s, but all three cars used the same 7.0-liter, 690-horsepower Jaguar V-12 drivetrain. At Le Mans, in the lower-drag XJR-9 LM bodywork, the cars were capable of speeds approaching 240 MPH; at Daytona, with its shorter straights and bumpier surface, the higher-downforce XJR-9s were still hitting 200 MPH, “day or night, dry or wet,” in the words of Martin Brundle.

In the XJR-9′s North American debut at the 1988 24 Hours of Daytona, chassis #288 took the win, while #188 finished third and #388 retired after 512 laps with an engine failure. It would prove to be one of just two DNFs for #388 during the 1988 season; although the car failed to deliver a victory in 1988, #388 never qualified or finished out of seventh position during the nine races it completed. Of these nine, four events ended in podium finishes, an impressive performance for a racing car in its first year of competition. At San Antonio, in round 12, a collision would bring a premature end to #388s season, and #188 stepped in to compete while #388 was returned to Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) for repair.

During the 1989 season, the XJR-9s were joined by the XJR-10, which lacked the earlier car’s skirted fenders and substituted a turbocharged V-6 for the former car’s normally aspirated V-12. Jaguar was hedging its bets, believing that the older cars would prove more durable than the newer and faster turbos, and XJR-9 #388 delivered another consistent season. This time, the car contested 12 races, scoring podium finishes in eight and DNFs in just two events. As in 1988, however, #388′s season would end in San Antonio, where an accident during the race prompted another return to TWR.

The XJR-9 was now at the end of its life, so TWR rebuilt chassis #388 as an XJR-12D, complete with a normally aspirated 7.0-liter V-12 now rated at 730 horsepower. As with previous seasons, the car’s North American debut occurred at Daytona, and in 1990 it was chassis #388′s time to shine. With drivers Davy Jones, Jan Lammers and Andy Wallace behind the wheel, the car delivered victory, with chassis 288 (also upgraded to XJR-12D specifications) finishing four laps down, but still in second place. Six weeks later, chassis #388 would deliver a podium finish at Sebring, all the more impressive considering the car’s 11th-place grid position at the start of the race.

With that, #388′s career effectively came to an end, as the faster turbocharged cars proved to be durable enough for the sprint races that made up the remainder of the season’s events. Chassis #388 did return to the track in January of 1991, but only for testing at Daytona. Despite its dated chassis and powertrain, #388 finished sixth in testing and proved to be the second-fastest non-turbocharged car in the field, a fitting end to its racing legacy.

RM describes chassis #388 as “the only remaining example of just two XJR-9 chassis ever manufactured as purpose-built IMSA specification cars,” and there’s no denying that the car played a key role in Jaguar’s third-place finish in the 1988 IMSA season and second-place finish in the 1989 IMSA season. The auction firm isn’t giving a precise pre-auction estimate for the car, but it does expect #388 to sell for “more than $3 million” when it crosses the stage in Amelia Island next March.

The Amelia Island sale takes place on March 14, 2015. For additional details, visit RMAuctions.com.

UPDATE (16.March): The Jaguar XJR-9 sold for a fee-inclusive price of $2,145,000.

In 1975, Arnold Wagner, Dieter Inzenhofer and Alwin Springer left Vasek Polak Porsche to found their own company, specializing in performance tuning of Porsche race cars. Borrowing letters from each of their first names, ANDIAL soon began turning out race-winning Porsches, a tradition it maintained for over two decades. When Inzenhofer, then the last founding member, retired in 2013, the business was sold to Porsche Motorsport North America “for future use.” The future is now, as the first revived Porsche race car has left the new ANDIAL workshop.

ANDIAL’s first effort is a 2011 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge car, updated with a new 4.0-liter race-prepared flat-six engine that replaced the car’s original 3.8-liter engine and pushed output from 450 horsepower to 515 horsepower. Other changes include an upgraded adjustable suspension, new brakes, a new sequential transmission with a pneumatic paddle-shift system and an onboard data acquisition system.

The car is already being campaigned in Porsche Club of America events, and ANDIAL is in the midst of completing four additional racecar revivals. It’s not yet clear how far back into its past the company will reach, but Porsche Motorsport North America CEO Jens Walther claims the cars will be “among the highlights of the upcoming Rennsport Reunion next October,” possibly signifying that vintage race cars, not just contemporary ones, are in the mix.

A partial list of drivers who have enjoyed success behind the wheel of an ANDIAL-prepared Porsche includes Al Holbert, Hurley Haywood, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Mario, Michael and John Andretti, Al Unser Sr. and Jr., A.J. Foyt and Derek Bell. ANDIAL Porsches claimed victory at the 24 Hours of Daytona from 1983-’87 (and again in 1989); captured the 1992 IMSA Supercar championship; won the IMSA-GT championship in 1983, 1985, 1986 and 1987; took the SCCA World Challenge championship in 1994; and delivered class victories at the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 1998, to name but a few of the brand’s past achievements.

A move to larger facilities in Carson, California, is planned for 2015, and the relocation will give ANDIAL both additional space and additional capabilities.

In February of 1968, a Porsche 907 “longtail” took the checkered flag at the 24 Hours of Daytona, having completed 673 laps in the round-the-clock endurance race. That was enough to hand Porsche its first overall win at Daytona, and the decisive victory was enhanced by a staged 1-2-3 formation finish of Porsche 907s. Next month, that Porsche 907 that crossed the Daytona finish line first will head to auction.

The 907, chassis 005, indeed helped deliver a podium sweep for Porsche at the 1968 24 Hours of Daytona, 500, but the automaker’s domination had an underlying cause. In the summer of 1967, the FIA changed the rules for endurance racing, effectively ending the dominance of large-displacement cars like the 7.0-liter Ford GT40 and 12-cylinder cars like the Ferrari 330 P4. Porsche, which had traditionally built lightweight sports cars of modest displacement, suddenly found itself with an opportunity to increase its competitiveness in the Prototype class. During testing in 1967, 907 models running fuel-injected flat-six engines had reached 187.6 miles per hour on the Mulsanne Straight, but Ferdinand Piech believed the car was capable of much more. For the 1968 season, the 907s were fitted with 2.2-liter flat-eight engines, rated at 278 horsepower, which Piech believed would prove fast (and reliable) enough for endurance racing victory.

As Sports Illustrated explained in a 1968 article, the changes to the rules of endurance racing amounted to “firing the stars of the show,” a move the magazine equated with the FIA “cutting its own throat.” At Daytona, promoter Bill France complained that the rule changes had come with insufficient time for teams to prepare, leaving him struggling to fill the grid. In response, France staged the season-opening Trans-Am race to run in conjunction with the 24 Hours of Daytona, and 23 of the race’s 63 starters came from the Trans-Am class. Following the Porsche podium sweep, the car that finished fourth, a Shelby-prepared Ford Mustang, hailed from the Trans-Am class, a further testament to the unorthodox state of endurance racing in early 1968.

With a Daytona win (Porsche’s first in a 24-hour endurance event) in the record books, chassis 005 returned to Europe for testing at Le Mans. At the 1968 Monza 1,000 kilometer race, the car finished second, ahead of the new Porsche 908, but behind a Ford GT40 (downsized to 4.9 liters) entered by John Wyer Automotive Engineering. At Le Mans in 1968, a Porsche 907 did finish in second place, but it was not chassis 005, which suffered a broken rocker arm in the race’s fourth hour.

In 1969, the highlight of the car’s season was a fourth-place finish at Sebring, which came sandwiched between a DNF at Daytona and a DNF at the Mugello Grand Prix. Chassis 005, now wearing short-tail bodywork, then returned to Germany, where it was used to test an experimental fire suppression system before being sold to Swiss privateer Andre Wicky. Wicky Racing campaigned the car with mixed results (including a class win at Le Mans in 1971, coupled with a string of DNFs) into the 1973 season, where its final race (at the Grand Prix de la Corniche) resulted in a win.

The car’s next two owners are presumed to have run the car in hillclimb and track events, but no competition record for 907-005 exists from this period. In the late 1980s, chassis 005 was acquired by American Porsche collector Henry Payne, who then restored the car for use in vintage racing. A period-correct six-cylinder Porsche engine was sourced in lieu of the car’s rare (and missing) 2.2-liter eight-cylinder, and Payne regularly exercised the car in vintage events along the East Coast until 2007. In 2010, chassis 005 was purchased by another collector, who endeavored to return the car to its 1968 Daytona Longtail configuration. A period-correct Type 771 eight-cylinder engine was found, and the car was refinished in a livery identical to the one it wore at the beginning of its racing career.

In the years since, 907-005 has been shown at Amelia Island, where it received the Judge North Trophy honoring the Most Historically Significant Race Car in 2011; at the Daytona 50th Anniversary celebration in 2012, where 1968 Daytona 24 Hour winner Vic Elford was reunited with the car; at the 2012 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, where it captured the Porsche Trophy for the Most Historically Significant Porsche; and at Castle Hedingham, where it received the Richard Atwood Choice Award during Classics at the Castle.

Gooding describes 907-005 as “one of the most important and historical examples of the legendary Porsche endurance prototypes,” and the car’s Daytona victory, Le Mans class win and lengthy, documented race history all add to its unique and spectacular pedigree. Such a history comes at a price, and Gooding’s pre-auction estimate puts the car’s value in the range of $3.5 – $5.0 million.

Gooding’s Amelia Island auction is scheduled for March 7, at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation. For additional details, visit GoodingCo.com.

UPDATE (8.March): Porsche 907-005 sold for a price of $3,630,000, including buyer’s fees, setting a new world record for a Porsche 907 sold at auction..

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Daytona, officials at the Daytona International Speedway have begun a search for every car that’s won the international endurance race in an effort to assemble as many of those cars as possible for the 2012 running next month, but three cars in particular have proven elusive, and speedway officials are asking your help to locate them.

Leading the list is the Ferrari 312PB, pictured above, which won the 1972 edition of the race (that year shortened to six hours) with Mario Andretti and Jacky Ickx at the wheel for Scuderia Ferrari. One of 11 or 12 such 3.0L boxer-12-powered prototypes built, serial number 0888 helped Ferrari win every World Championship race it entered that year. According to barchetta.cc, it appears to currently belong to a Swiss owner.

Next up, the 1979 Porsche 935/79 entered by Interscope Racing in what was then the 24 Hour Pepsi Challenge and driven by Hurley Haywood, Ted Field, and Danny Ongais. Serial number 990-029 was one of seven cars Porsche built for customers (and one of two Field bought) toward the end of factory 935 development, using a single turbocharger on a 3.2-liter engine. According to Lee Self’s book, Porsche Turbo USA, the closest it came to repeating its Daytona performance was a pair of second-place finishes later that year before it was crashed in practice for the Daytona finale. It has since been restored and reportedly has made its way to France.

Finally, the 1998 Ferrari 333SP prototype, driven by Mauro Baldi, Arie Luyendyk, Gianpiero Moretti, and Didier Theys for Doran-Moretti Racing. One of 40 such cars built by Dallara and Michelotto, serial number 019 used an F1-derived 4.0L V-12 in a mid-engine configuration for power. After being involved in a three-way trade for a Ferrari 250 GTO in 2003, it left public view.

According to Daytona officials, 25 of the 49 race winners (for those counting, no race was held in 1974 due to the energy crisis) will be on hand for the 50th anniversary of the race, including